Padosi / Shejari (1941) :
Brief Review -
The First and Best of Communal Hindu-Muslim Unity Prolapse in Indian Cinema. Padosi directed by V Shantaram is often cited as his best Social Classic and there are multiple valid reasons for it. It was made in 1941 when the tension between Hindu-muslim communities and locals was at peak in rural parts and it was a high risk to take this subject on in cinema world during British India when British were keen on applying divide and rule theories again and again. Padosi is strong, powerful and humanly driven tale of friendship between two men belonging to different cast, Hindu and Muslim. To achieve a better geniality, director had a Muslim playing a Hindu and a Hindu play the Muslim character in the film. While I write this, it gives me goosebumps and i hope the same happen to your too while reading this. Thakur and Mirza are close friends but after a small conspiracy they are transformed into enemies which leads to spread a negative impact in the village. Padosi is brilliant and gutsy writing handled with superior mindset of pre-independant era but the major achievement of the film lies in the mainstream filmmaking and simple and emotional storytelling. I remember watching 'Delhi 6' (2009) which was inspired from this film but had a lot of mess and marginally failed to achieve the essence. Here, Padosi deals with the issue very smartly without using too much of cinematic Liberty. Well, to be frank, it drags a little in last 40 minutes where not so useful characters tries to command the narrative but otherwise it gets right everywhere, especially in the highly dramatic climax. V Shantaram sets the bar for friendship films and believe me he did it through a socially important content like Hindu-Muslim unity. Overall, a daring attempt with some great properties.
RATING - 7/10*
By - #samthebestest.
